‘Angry Birds’ Developer Rovio Posts €13M Loss In 2015

The original Angry Birds video game was released back in 2009 on iOS and quickly became one of the most popular mobile games in the early days of the smartphone revolution. The game was eventually released on a number of other platforms as well, including Android and Windows Phone, and its popularity meant that it spawned numerous follow-ups and spin-offs over the next few years. With the popularity of Angry Birds and its sequels showing no signs of diminishing in the subsequent years, the game became a pop-culture phenomenon, making its developers, the Helsinki, Finland-based Rovio Entertainment Ltd. one of the most successful mobile video game creators in the world.

Cut to 2016 and although the franchise continues to retain its popularity among sections of mobile gamers, Rovio seems to have lost the magic touch that made the simple yet exciting game the darling of large sections of the population. According to a report now, Rovio Entertainment, the company behind the Angry Birds video gaming franchise, has now announced that it suffered an operating loss last year, mostly due to the restructuring of the company and the investments it made in the upcoming 3D Hollywood film – The Angry Birds Movie. The company, however has more bad news in store for its investors, as it revealed that 2015 was the third successive year when its earnings had declined, something that has already resulted in the company cutting as much as a third of its staff worldwide.

At its earnings call earlier in the day, Rovio said that it made an operating loss of about €13 million ($14.75 million) last year on sales of about €142 million, although revenues from the game itself was slightly higher at €114 million. The declining topline looks pretty worrying given the company had actually made a profit of €10 million in 2014 on overall revenues of €158 million. As for its heydays back in 2012, the company’s profits were apparently as high as €77 million. However, the top management at Rovio remains as positive as ever, with the CEO, Ms. Kati Levoranta, expressing optimism that the company will be able to get back to profitability by the end of the year.